Rebounding mechanism.



PATENTED NOV. 6, 1906. J. H. WESSON & H. W. BULL.

RBBOUNDING MECHANISM.

APPLIOATION FILED MAR. 1. 1905.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH H. WESSON AND HARCOURT W. BULL, OF SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS.

REBOUNDING MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 6, 1906.

Application filed March 1, 1905. Serial No 247,965.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOSEPH H. WEssoN and HAROOURT W. BULL, citizens ofthe United States of America, residing at Springfield, in the county ofHampden and State of Massachusetts, have invented new and usefulImprovements in Rebounding Mechanism, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates to improvements in revolvers, and particularly torebounding mechanism, and is in the nature of an improvement on UnitedStates Letters Patent issued to Joseph H. Wesson on September 2, 1902,and numbered 708,437. In this prior patent the rebounding member ispivoted to the hammer, and for its proper operation it depends upon arather close fit in the hinged joint whereby it is connected to thehammer.

The object of this invention is to provide means whereby the reboundinglever may be pivotally supported on the frame and held positively out ofthe path of movement of the shoulder on the hammer with which it engagesupon the fall of the hammer, one spring serving both for therebounding-lever and the trigger.

The invention consists in the construction set forth in the followingspecification and clearly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings forming part of this application the invention is shownas applied to a revolver of the solid-frame type but the invention isnot restricted to any particular ty' e.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a side elevation of a revolver with .thecheek-piece and side plate removed, showing the hammer in reboundedposition, certain parts being shown in section. Fig. 2 is a similar viewshowing the parts in the position they occu y when the hammer is cocked.Fig. 3 is a so a view similar to Fig. l, but in which the parts areshown in the position they occupy when the hammer has fallen and justprior to the actuation of the rebounding device to retact the hammer.

Referring now to the drawings, a indicates the frame of the revolver; b,the cylinder; c, the hammer; d, the trigger; e, the rebounding lever; f,the spring therefor, and g is the mainspring. The spring f alsoconstitutes the trigger-spring.

There is no novelty in the construction of the revolver outside of therebounding lever shown in the various figures of the drawings, 7

is pivotally supported on the frame on the pin h, and the rear upper endthereof is provided with a hook j. The other end of the lever extendsforwardly of its pivot and into a slot is, which extends through thetrigger in the plane of the swinging movement of the latter, the triggerbeing hung on a pin m. In cutting this slot 7c in the trigger the lowerborder thereof is formed with a high oint 0 thereon, from which pointthe bor er is sloped away on an incline toward the front and rear edgesof the trigger, the high point 0 being so located that when the triggeris pulled, as in the act of cocking the hammer, it will swing under theforward end of the rebounding-lever e, which extends into said slot isin the trigger, and hence depresses the rear end of the lever, carryingit away from and below the shoulder 19 on the lower edge of the hammer,thereby compressing the spring f, the lower end of which is secured tothe frame, as at g, and the upper free end of which is located under therear end of the rebounding lever. Thus starting from the position whichthe parts occupy in Fig. 1 the forward end of the rebounding lever willlie on the inclined lower border of the slot k to the rear of the highpoint 0 referred to, and if the trigger be pulled to cook the hammerthis high point simultaneously with the backward swing of the up er endof the hammer will cam the rear en of the rebounding lever downward, asshown in Fig. 2, and if the trigger be ulled far enough to allow thehammer to fal the rear end of the rebounding lever will by the contactof the forward end thereof with the trigger be positively held down inthe position shown in Fig. 3, to the end that when the hammer falls andstrikes a cartridge the relation of the shoulder p on the lower edge ofthe hammer and the hook j of the cocking-lever will be that shown insaid Fig. 3.

Preferably the plane of the shoulder 19 and the plane of the hooked end3' of the rebounding lever are so located that when the hooked end j isswung upward by the spring f to the position shown in Fig. 1 inengagement with said shoulder these planes will be parallel.

It will be seen that by reason of the location of the rebounding lever erelative to the trigger d and to the spring f the latter acts as atrigger-spring through the medium of the rebounding lever 6. Thereforeafter the trigger has released the hammer if pressure on the trigger berelieved the spring f in throwing upward the rear end of the lever 6will effect the forward swinging movement of the trigger, because of thebearing of the forward end of the rebound lever on the inclined portionof the bottom of the slot 70 in the trigger, which extends from the highpoint 0 downwardly and rearwardly, this point of bearing on the triggerlying to the rear of the pivotal point m of the latter.

It is seen by an examination of the position of the parts in Fig. 3that'when the trigger is released the point of the hook 7' will be swungupwardly through the arc of a circle indicated by the dotted line r andinto engagement with the shoulder 9, and this movement will carry thelower end of the hammer forward far enough to withdraw the nose of thehammer into the recoil-plate, as shown in Fig. 1, and when in thisposition the hook j and the shoulder p will be interlocked and anyattempt to force the hammer forward will result in a straight pull onthe pivot-pin h of the rebound-lever, and therefore but a relativelylight pressure beneath the rear end of the rebounding lever is requiredto maintain this interlocking relation of the latter with the hammer,the spring being quite sufficient for this purpose.

- -Having thus'described our invention, what we claim, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States, is

1. A rebounding mechanism comprising a trigger having a recess therein,the lower border of Which trends downwardly and rearwardly, a reboundinglever pivotally supported back of the trigger, the forward end of thelever bearing on the lower border of the recess and adapted for movementon the downwardly and rearwardly trending portion of the recess, and therear end of the lever provided with an upwardly-extending hook; a springunder said rear end of the rebounding lever and serving as thetrigger-spring, a hammer pivotally supported above the leverprovided'with an upwardly-extending hook a spring under said rear end ofthe rebounding lever, and serving as a trigger-spring, a hammerpivotally supported above the lever, and having a shoulder on the loweredge thereof with which said hooked end of the le ver engages, theupward movement of said hooked end of the lever serving to swing thelower end 'of the trigger forward and to simultaneously swing the upperend of the hammer rearwardly.

3. A rebounding mechanism for revolvers comprising a. trigger having arecess therein, the lower portion of the recess having a crown portionand a rearwardly-inclined surface, a rebounding lever pivoted in theframe and .in rear of the trigger, said lever having its forward endbearing on the rearwardly-inclined surface of the trigger and the rearend of the lever provided with a hook, a hammer pivotally supportedabove the lever and having a shoulder thereon, a spring under the rearend of the rebounding lever and serving also as a trigger-spring toforce the rear end of the lever upward and the forward end downwardagainst the inclined surface whereby the trigger is thrown forward andwhereby the hook on the rear end of the lever is thrown into lockingengagement with the shoulder on the hammer, and accidental dischargeprevented.

JOSEPH H. WESSON. HARCOURT W. BULL.

Witnesses: WM. H. OHAPIN,

K. I. OLEMoNs.

